Deco-Village DecoHousing Denmark
An Eco-Village
What is an Ecovillage?
An ecovillage is an intentional, traditional or urban community that is consciously designed through locally owned participatory processes in all four dimensions of sustainability (social, culture, ecology and economy) to regenerate social and natural environments.
Because each ecovillage is designed by the people who live there, according to their vision, context, culture and interests, no two are alike.
This $4.9 million DecoHousing project has delivered a co-housing eco-village intended to set a benchmark for medium density housing and community living within a regional township. As best as we know, this is the first intentional eco-village built within a conventional rural town, certainly in Australia
Smaller homes use high quality, sustainable design and construction methods:
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Passive-solar buildings and solar-access landscape design;
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9 star energy ratings
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Universal housing design for aging-in-place design;
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Pedestrian friendly precinct with level walkways;
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Integration for grid connected photovoltaic energy with batteries;
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Underground power;
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Water sensitive urban design;
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Rainwater and grey-water systems
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Ornamental and productive gardens and orchards;
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Restoration of stream zone under a foreshore management plan.
Deco-Village is a member of The Global Ecovillage Network. This is a global association of people and communities dedicated to living "sustainable plus" lives by restoring the land and adding more to the environment than is taken.
Energy
Southwest WA is lucky to enjoy a very mild temperate climate, with an abundance of sunshine throughout most of the year to warm and power our houses, and summer breezes to cool them down. In recent years, solar photovoltaic and battery technologies have become much more affordable and accessible, energy efficient appliances are now widely available, and solar passive house design is recognised as best practice. Why is it then that we continue to build energy guzzling housing developments, which are literally costing people the earth to live in?
One of the key objectives of the Deco-Village is to supply nearly 100% of all energy consumed on site through renewable sources. Carefully planned passive-solar layouts, clever 9 star rated house designs and efficient appliances will have a big impact on reducing energy consumption in the Ecovillage, and renewable energy will be generated onsite by an integrated rooftop solar PV / battery system.
To ensure a constant supply, the total renewable energy produced within the eco-village over a whole year has been designed to be significantly greater than the total energy that residents consume. In time this excess can be leveraged to run electric vehicles, or sold to our neighbours through a 'Power Ledger' system, or other opportunities.
Also there is a substantial bank of batteries in the centralised power room.
Any shortfall backup required during unusually long cloudy periods will be supplied by Denmark's Community Windfarm renewable energy via the Western Power grid.
Links
Background and definition: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecovillage
Global Ecovillage Network: https://ecovillage.org/
